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Bloom or Plume spots question

Techdawg2012

Techdawg2012

New Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2012
Messages
30
Hey guys, I have been in cigar smoking for roughly 8-9 months. I was at my local cigar shop and saw a Padron with white spots on it. I told my buddy, "damn, this cigar looks to have mold on it!" he said, " hell no, that's what some smokers prefer!" it means the cigar is aging perfectly he said. So my question to you guys is, how long in a humidor does it typically take a cigar to get these white spots called "bloom or plume"??
 
I'd be willing to bet a lot of money that what you and your friend saw was mold.

Doc.
 
Yeah, what Doc said. I had this same experience at a B&M last year. They swore up and down to me that it was plume, when in fact it was mold. The truth is that plume is something very few people ever actually see, and usually cigars at B&Ms are stored at a higher RH than they should which tends to be a more favorable environment for mold development.
 
Please help a newbie out:) how do I tell the difference? I was able to wipe the white spots off with my finger... And how long does it usually take cigars stored properly to get "plume"?
 
Plume usually looks like a very fine haze over the entire stick and not on the foot. Mold tends to be spotty and three-dimentional and if you look closely enough you can usually see hair-like structures. You can find all sorts of threads about this topic as it is one of the more common "debates" of the cigar world. Do a little searching around here and you'll most likely even find pictures of what you're looking for. :thumbs:
 
New B&M that opened here locally has this issue. Beautiful walk in, decent selection, but way high RH.

I took a full box of La Gloria to the counter that had been eaten ALIVE with mold. Lady thanked me for bringing it to their attention. The next time I went in that same box was back in the walk in, and a few other boxes were showing mold. This time I just told them about it and that I wouldn't be buying cigars from them until they fixed it. They have great priced accessories, so I still stop in, but not for smokes.

I'd also like to cast my vote for "it's always mold".
 
here's a picture of MOLD!

http://www.cigarpass.com/forumsipb/topic/54668-help-bloom-or-mold/#entry818918
 
Techdawg2012 said:
Hey guys, I have been in cigar smoking for roughly 8-9 months. I was at my local cigar shop and saw a Padron with white spots on it. I told my buddy, "damn, this cigar looks to have mold on it!" he said, " hell no, that's what some smokers prefer!" it means the cigar is aging perfectly he said. So my question to you guys is, how long in a humidor does it typically take a cigar to get these white spots called "bloom or plume"??
Click to expand...

To answer your question...it depends on conditions and varies.
 
I have had plume happen in as little as 6 months and sometimes (more than not) never in 5-10 yrs. As for the B&M's most of us try to keep an eye out for the cigars in a walk in. The main problem is inconsistant humidity, door opening/closing etc. We keep ours at about 67%, but i tend to rotate the cigars from high to low on the shelf every couple of months and that seems to end any problems. Alot of stores don't because they want certain cigars in a certain place for customers, reps, etc. IMO keeping the cigars at the best condition for the customer is most important so we rotate them and point out where they are for the regulars.
 
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